Jumping Shadows and Sunsets
by XSilverLiningsX
Summary: [Prequel drabble that takes place three to four years before We Are Young. Warnings for domestic abuse, violence, and language.] Like most children, Ellis and Lann had parents. Until they didn't.
1. 1

The skies above were tinted with streaks of orange and red as the humid 95°F temperature scorched the asphalt and concrete on this particular July afternoon. Five-year-old Ellis leaned out of the grimy windowsill, tip-toeing on the kitchen chair that he had pushed over, and watched as a few cars rumbled down the street two stories down from him. A motorcycle hummed noisily and sped through at what seemed like twice the speed limit.

Ellis had always thought that the sun always looked the prettiest from this window.

The smell of cheap pasta and tomato sauce simmering over the stove wafted over from the kitchen, and Ellis's stomach growled. A familiar, beat up car slowly rolled into view and Ellis scrambled off the chair. He made his way into the kitchen, the heavy chair dragging behind him as he moved it back by the dinner table.

"Mama, Dad's back."

"Really, baby? He's here?" A tired-eyed woman looked over from where she was cooking and smiled weakly at the boy.

"Uh huh." Ellis rummaged through his small backpack and pulled out a slip of paper. He ran the few steps over and hugged the woman's leg as he waved the note up at her. "Miss Tieve gave me a paper. For a talking."

The woman kept her eyes on the food and absently smoothed down the boy's messy hair with her free hand. "Put it on the table so I can read it later, okay?"

"Okay, okay." For extra emphasis, Ellis nodded against the fabric of her pants before detaching himself from her. He ran back over to the round dinner table and placed it where his mom usually sat.

The front door creaked open, and a sweaty man that smelled like sour beer stumbled into the kitchen. Ellis remained quiet, hidden behind a tall wooden chair, as he waited for a chance to escape unseen into the room he shared with his older brother. Ellis knew through experience that his dad hated it whenever someone bothered him after a long day at work.

His mom started plating the pasta and his dad angrily lumbered over to her, his face flushed and eyes unfocused. The sound of a sudden smack against skin was far louder than a plate falling to the floor and breaking into pieces.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!" Ellis edged closer to the living room. Dad and mom were going to fight again. Usually his older brother would break it up somehow, but he wasn't back yet, so Ellis couldn't do anything but hide and wait. It was nearly instinct, by now.

His mom's reply was almost drowned out by the steady stream of yelling and another slap. "I was just–!"

"FUCKING WHORE! I PAY GOOD MONEY FOR YOU AND THOSE FUCKING KIDS, AND THIS IS HOW I'M REPAID?!"

Another ugly slap, and Ellis dived behind the safety of the couch. He peeked around and saw his mom crying as his dad pulled painfully at her hair. Ellis wiped at the beginnings of tears in his own eyes and bit into his fist. He couldn't make any noises or he'd end up getting hit, too…

The front door slammed open and Ellis peeked over just in time to see his brother drop his backpack and launch himself at dad, knocking all three of them onto the kitchen floor. His mom screamed, a shrill sound that hurt Ellis's ears, as dad got the upper hand, latched onto a handful of his brother's hair, and slammed his face against the floor several times. Something crunched, and his brother stopped struggling.

His dad got up, breathing heavily as he wiped at his bloodied nose with the back of his hand. Mom was silent, her face bleached white; she couldn't take her eyes off the still figure of her oldest son.

Ellis started to cry, muffled whimpers and sobs pressed against his sleeve.

"Get up, woman." His mom didn't seem like she heard dad, so he grabbed onto her arm and forcibly pulled her up. He began to drag her over to the front door, stepping over the body as he grabbed his keys from where he had thrown them on the dining table. His parents disappeared into the world beyond the front door, and Ellis waited a moment before shakily getting to his feet.

Ellis stumbled over to where his brother was lying and hesitantly shook his shoulder. "Lann…?"

His brother didn't respond and Ellis felt a chill go down his spine. The weight of nervousness and panic in his gut increased tenfold. Ellis shoved harder. "Wake up… wake up!"

A sudden screech of tires and a horrifying smash of metal startled Ellis and he fell over on his backside. Scrambling to his feet, he ran over to the window and pulled himself up using his arms so he could see over the windowsill.

His dad's car was completely crushed and belching black smoke and fire. The car looked like it had swerved through a stop sign and right into the telephone pole, which then fell down on top of it. A few neighbors from the other apartments ran out into the street, but they didn't get as much as ten feet to the car when it exploded into fiery plumes of smoke, bits of blackened scrap metal flying everywhere.

Wary, nobody approached the car and stayed a good distance away. Ellis watched carefully through the tears in his eyes; he didn't see anyone coming out of the car. Where was mom? He looked back at his brother, who was still on the floor. What should he do?

Then, he remembered what Ms. Tieve had taught him to do in case of emerg… emeg… mergency. Emergencies!

The landline in the kitchen was too high for him to reach, so Ellis dragged over a kitchen chair. He picked up the speaker… thing… and looked at the puddle of blood that was slowly growing bigger.


	2. 2

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Uhm, is– is this, uhm, the p–po–police?"

"Yes, this is the police. What is your emergency?"

"M–my brother is… is bleeding and h–he won't wake up and dad and m–m–om went out a–and the c–c–c–car is… is–is–is **_fire_**!"

"Hey, hey kid! You're going to be alright. Take a deep breath. Now, do you know where you live? How is your brother?"

"It's… it's… uhm… he's… he won't wake up. And the… and the blood is getting bigger. Can you hurry?"

"Okay, kid, just keep talking to me, alright? Help is on the way. Do you know the color of your house?"

"W–w–we live in–in–in a… uhm… part–ment? It's… brown, I think and uhm… the door is… white?"


	3. 3

The police station smelled like cigarettes and bagels, but Ellis didn't really notice as a kind policewoman led him over to a plastic chair to sit in. A scratchy orange blanket was draped over his hunched shoulders.

Ellis didn't want to be here, stranded alone in the bustle of blue and black uniforms; he wanted Mama or Lann to come barging through the doors to find him.

"Hey, kid." Ellis looked up to see a balding policeman with an eyepatch smiling sadly down at him.

"Hullo." The policeman sat down in the hard plastic chair next to Ellis.

"I'm the Chief of the police station, but you can call me Ingkells." Ellis wrinkled his nose.

"You have a weird name." Ellis stiffened when he realized that he had said something mean, but Ingkells, rather than bursting into anger, had simply chuckled.

"It might be, but it's the name my mama gave me, and I love my mama too much to be embarrassed."

Ellis was silent for a moment, but a tiny smile forced its way onto his face. "I love my mama, too. And my brother."

Ingkells leaned in, looking as if he was interested in whatever Ellis was talking about. "Wow, you have a brother? I only have a bunch of sisters. What's he like?"

"Well, yesterday he took me to the park and we went on the swings and the slides and the…"


	4. 4

"We have to go? Where to?" Ellis looked up at his brother, who looked haggard and had dark circles under his eyes. The 14-year-old still looked sick even after almost two weeks in the hospital, but the doctors had said that he was okay enough to leave. There was an unfamiliar look to his eyes, blank and devoid of life.

"I don't know. Somewhere not the apartment." Ellis looked down at his sneakers and squeezed Lann's hand. Some of his fingers had been broken, so they were bandaged up tightly and set with splints. The same had been done to his broken nose, but there wasn't much that could be done with his black eye and a few bruises.

"Alright, kids." Both Lann and Ellis looked up at Chief Ingkells, who had come into the office with a packet of papers in his hands. "It looks like all the work's come through. After we pick up some of your things, I'll drive you two over to the care center."

At Ellis's scrunched up face (he looked as if he was going to burst into tears), he added, "Don't worry kid, they'll take good care of you. Both of you."

"Thanks for your help." Lann's voice was as dry as a desert. Ellis looked up and saw his brother glaring at the Chief, who only smiled sadly back in reply. They were going into the system, and there was nothing they were able to do about it.

In the end, Ellis had packed some of his clothes, his raggedy teddy bear, and a single picture of mom and dad into his backpack. Lann, on the other hand, had simply shoved as much clothing as he could into his backpack and their toothbrushes.

As they were leaving the place they had once lived in with their mom and dad, Ellis noticed that Lann paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant, before he grabbed something from on top of the old dresser.

* * *

During the long ride in the car towards their new 'home,' Ellis had quickly dozed off against his brother's arm. The pink-and-red-smeared skies had long since given way to the encroaching darkness of night, the fading shadows of trees and light poles flickering past the car as they left their parents behind in shallow, guilt-ridden graves. Blinking slowly, his eyelids feeling like they had heavy weights attached, Ellis saw Lann lifting up the chewed-up cover of a well-worn paperback.

Lann began to read quietly, his voice barely louder than the hum of the car's engine, "_The primroses were over. Toward the edge of the wood, where the ground became open and sloped down to an old fence and a brambly ditch beyond, only a few fading patches of pale yellow still showed…_"


	5. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes!**

The book Lann was reading is called Watership Down, in which a group of suddenly-homeless rabbits search together for a new home. Fitting, no?

Why write a prequel? I felt like it, and I wanted to write something mostly from Ellis's point of view because I mention him in my stories (mostly the AU ones) a lot but never really expand on it.

This is also another tie-in to the harassment theme I had going on in _We Are Young_, but it mostly focuses on domestic violence. It **is** a problem, but it's been swept under the rug too many times for me to count. Also, it's not always going to be a man hitting his wife for something; it can also be a woman doing things to her husband as well. Or in same-sex pairings... you get the point. My baseline is simply that at no point is it okay to lash out at others because you're feeling shitty. Go break a real punching bag or run a few miles instead of stewing on the couch. Trust me, it's healthier (physically, mentally, and relationship-ly) than assaulting the people you love.


End file.
